this is bbc news, i'm reeta chakrabarti. in the next few minutes we're live in downing street for the british government's daily press briefing on coronavirus. the headlines: the uk is facing a new reality as the prime minister orders the closure of pubs, cafes a nd restau ra nts for an indefinite period to help slow the spread of coronavirus. thousands of supermarket staff are being hired in the uk to keep shelves stacked in the face of panic buying. a british government minister admits it's operationally difficult to help the self—employed through the coronavirus epidemic. in spain, more than 300 people have died in the last 2a hours from coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths there to 1,326. america orders people in more

states to stay home. anyone flouting the restrictions in new york faces fines. good afternoon and welcome to this bbc news special. the uk is adjusting to a changed way of life, as radical new measures aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus come into force from today, as has already happened in much of europe. coronavirus come into force today. as has happened in much of europe. inafew as has happened in much of europe. in a few minutes we will take you to downing street for the latest briefing from the government. yesterday, the prime minister announced all public venues including pubs, restaurants, gyms, theatres and cinemas must close with

theatres and cinemas must close with the decision to be reviewed on a monthly basis. it came as the chancellor announced an unprecedented package of measures to protect businesses and workers, including a commitment to pay up to 80% of people's wagers to a maximum of £2500 a month for those whose jobs are at risk due to the pandemic. in europe, lockdown downs are more stringent as the crisis spreads. italy and spain have seen the highest number of deaths since the highest number of deaths since the outbreak began. this afternoon pakistan suspended all incoming international flights for two weeks. we will take you to downing street now. i wanted to take the opportunity to provide you with an update on the food supply chain and steps we are taking to ensure eve ryo ne steps we are taking to ensure everyone has steps we are taking to ensure eve ryo ne has a ccess steps we are taking to ensure everyone has access to food they need. we recognise this is a challenging time and there are many things the government is asking the

nation to do differently as we work to fight the pandemic. but there is one message i want to start with loud and clear which has been responsible when you shop and think of others. buying more than you need means others may be left without and it is making life difficult for front line workers such as doctors and nurses and nhs support staff, who worked so hard in such difficult circumstances. as you shop, think of those finishing their late shifts and lead to pop to the local shop at the end of a long day. today the prime minister and i have spoken to the retail sector and there is more than enough food to go around and the food supply chain is able to expand production to cope with increased demand. in the past week sales of some foods have increased significantly and manufacturers have produced around 50% more food than they usually would. there is no

shortage of food available and more is arriving in shops every day but the challenge all retailers have faced is keeping shelves stocked throughout the day in the face of increased purchasing behaviour. we have a role to play in ensuring we come through this together, so the government has taken steps to set aside rules restricting delivery to stores and relaxed restrictions on driver hours so more goods can be delivered to every store every day. we have set aside competition rules so we have set aside competition rules so supermarkets can coordinate effo rts so supermarkets can coordinate efforts locally, sharing staff and delivery vehicles and coordinating their opening times to ensure food reaches every pa rt their opening times to ensure food reaches every part of the country. we have waived the plastic bag charge and on offer online purchases to speed up deliveries. the retailers and suppliers are working

round—the—clock to keep shelves stocked. supermarkets are recruiting more staff, protecting shopping times for older people and limiting shopping hours so they have more time to restock. i want to take the opportunity to thank those staff working in supermarkets and food businesses up and down the country today who are doing so much to deliver a crucial service. as the prime minister said many times, we need every citizen to play their part. some supermarkets have put in place purchase limits to ensure there is fair trading and that shelves remain stocked longer. everyone must respect such measures and respect staff working in the shops, who are doing their best to ensure you and your neighbours get the food supplies you need. i would like to pass over to helen. to pick up like to pass over to helen. to pick up on like to pass over to helen. to pick upona like to pass over to helen. to pick up on a couple of points. you do not

need me to tell you about the levels of unprecedented demand we have seen andl of unprecedented demand we have seen and i wanted to reassure everybody that people across the industry from growers , that people across the industry from growers, packers, producers, distributors, drivers and people at the front line in the stores are doing everything to make sure we have the food we need. it is almost like we are seeing a peak in demand, like we are seeing a peak in demand, like christmas, without the four—month build—up in planning you would normally have and we have done that in two weeks. there is plenty of food in the supply chain, the issue is around people and lorries, so issue is around people and lorries, so getting the food into the front line onto shelves, which is why we have seen shortages in some areas. across different lines and in different areas of the country. what

has been vital over the past days is the dialogue with government. they have listened carefully to the things people in the industry have highlighted that would make it easier to increase capacity. the key is notjust the listening but being able to act quickly and george highlighted a couple of things, for example, lifting curfews for deliveries, enabling more lorries to get through the supply chain and into stores more quickly. there is a list of things where we have raised an issue and it has been addressed quickly. that will be vital as we go forward. the food retailers i am talking to every day and on the call with the prime minister earlier, wanted to underline that message about encouraging everybody to be

considerate in what they buy, make sure they only buy what they need. there are £1 billion more food in people's houses than there was three weeks ago so we should make sure we eat some of it. be considerate and think about people across the community and how we can help them in making sure they can pick up and get their shopping. it is much more about how we all work together to rise to the challenges we face. thank you. i would like to make a plea on behalf of colleagues in the nhs, nurses, doctors, paramedics and many others who are working incredibly hard to manage this outbreak. and are preparing for the surge they know will be coming at them. it is important they also have access to food and essential supplies they need. many of you will have seen a video on social media

yesterday by a critical care nurse who was in tears at the end of a long shift because she could not get access to the supplies she needed. frankly, we should be all ashamed that has to happen. these are the very people we will all need to look after perhaps us or loved ones in the weeks ahead. it is critical by not stockpiling and selfishly shopping, by leaving those supplies for others, that health workers are able to get access to what they need. these are the people we will all be relying on, more than we have done, in the weeks ahead. nick ea rdley. done, in the weeks ahead. nick eardley. many of the pleas have fallen on deaf ears. is the government prepared to intervene and perhaps introduce compulsory limits

on what people can buy and the supplementary question, many people will be out today for a walk with families and see parks absolutely packed with other people. is that safe and should people be taking further measures to distance from others in public spaces?” further measures to distance from others in public spaces? i will a nswer others in public spaces? i will answer the first point. and may refer to stephen on the second. the reality is that most supermarkets of their own accord, and they have discussed this, are putting limits on certain items. i do not think it is necessary or appropriate for the government to dictate this, different stores on different items work together to identify an appropriate limit. today i am asking everybody to respect what supermarkets are doing. they are trying to ensure shelves do not go empty trying to ensure shelves do not go e m pty early trying to ensure shelves do not go empty early in the morning and to achieve that, they are putting item

limits on certain goods. it is important everybody respects that. more food arrives every day. there is no shortage of food production. the crucial thing is we need people to come down and buy only what they need and think of others when they purchase. john craig, sky news. has more pressure being put on supermarkets by the decision to close pubs, cafe is and restaurants? and a medical question if i may, we have broadcast in the past hour an interview with a leading ear, nose and throat consultant, who has revealed new symptoms for the covid—19. a loss of smell or taste, i am symptoms for the covid—19. a loss of smell or taste, iam not symptoms for the covid—19. a loss of smell or taste, i am not sure if you are familiar with this. he said two

of his senior colleagues suffer from this. he is concerned about the risk to seniorfront line this. he is concerned about the risk to senior front line medics. this. he is concerned about the risk to seniorfront line medics. i wondered if you were aware of this andi wondered if you were aware of this and i wondered what action you and your organisation have ta ken and i wondered what action you and your organisation have taken to protect front line medics from these symptoms. on the first point, the truth is that there has already been a significant switch in the past three weeks to people purchasing from supermarkets rather than eating out. the further announcements yesterday are judged necessary to control the progress of this disease and in order to protect the nhs, which is why we have taken a further step of closing those public venues. it isa step of closing those public venues. it is a relatively small amount, we judge come of the increased demand in supermarkets. the biggest increase in demand is from a small number who have been stockpiling

certain goods. we estimate in the past three weeks, around £1 billion of additionalfood has been put into household that has not been consumed. on the question of the symptoms, like many viruses that give infections of the upper respiratory tract, the nose and throat, there are a range of symptoms and the most common are a cough and fever and that is why they are the symptoms we are asking people to self—isolate, if they get them. in terms of staff protection, it is important staff follow the advice from experts of public health england, who described the protection in terms of personal protection in terms of personal protection and equipment staff should take. that is will protect staff from getting the coronavirus. just coming back to the demand point. many businesses, there are

operations across europe and they can look and see what has happened to demand in the days posed significant announcements like the one yesterday made by the prime minister. what we have seen in ireland, that demand spikes again after the announcement and then now is beginning to trail off. it gives a lot of comfort that is what we will see here in terms of trends. itv news. 0ne will see here in terms of trends. itv news. one for each of the experts. helen, you said the problem is people and lorries. what are you doing to address the shortage of people and lorries? is there something government can do? is this a job for the mod, perhaps? and steven, i gather nice issued guidance saying doctors should base admission to critical care beds on

the patient‘s chances of recovery. 0ur already making those difficult decisions to turn some people away? and if it has not started housing will it happen? is doing is making sure that everybody can be put into the front line is being redirected to ensure that we have all got the food we need. we have got examples of many people from business head offices going into stores, into the warehouses, in order to support colleagues. 0n the lorries, that was an issue in terms of driver hours. 0ne an issue in terms of driver hours. one of the areas that was talked about very early on, with george and his team in ensuring we had the flexibility to be able to increase the capacity within that bit of the supply chain. can ijust add we are helping to facilitate discussions between retailers and those in the

food service sector so it is important to note that the decision to close pubs and restaurants and so on means that there is some surplus delivery capacity and indeed, staff with expertise in food who could be redeployed from those companies to the retail sector which is obviously seeing an increase in demand. a request from the mod for deliveries? no but we are obviously giving increasing thought within government to how we will protect those who may be self isolating because they are vulnerable. i know that more will be said about this in due course. doctors and other clinicians are very used to having discussions with patients and relatives about treatment choices. frankly, ouraim is to make sure we are in a position that those discussions are as they have always been. but the way we will do that, to be absolutely clear, is for everyone in society to follow the guidance that the government has given in reducing

social contact, because that will reduce the transmission, the spread of the virus and will reduce the number of deaths and the pressure on the nhs. yes, we are working night and day to increase capacity but an increase in capacity and the reducing demand that will come from everybody paying attention, young and old, to the guidance that has been given, will give us the best possible chance that doctors and clinicians can have those discussions in the way they have a lwa ys discussions in the way they have always had them. thank you, secretary of state, you talked of purchase limits and respecting these rules but the track record of the la st two rules but the track record of the last two weeks has been that people have not been listening to the government until they are obliged to do so. can you today rule out 100% any need for state backed rationing of any goods in the coming weeks? secondly, the chinese authorities have led us to believe they have almost wiped out coronavirus now with no new cases daily. have you seen anything within government or cabinet to suggest those figures are not necessarily true? on your first

point, as i said earlier, all of the major retailers are working together and exercising their own judgment about where it is appropriate to put limits, item limits on certain issues. toilet roll is one, where, for reasons that are not really understood, there was a big spike in purchasing quite early on despite the fact that toilet roll is made here in this country and they are able to expand production very quickly. but that is an item where, to ensure the goods remained on the shelves, the supermarkets together took a position of putting an item limit. i think it is best for the retailers to flexibly come together and decide what the appropriate limit is for each item, because this isa limit is for each item, because this is a changing scenario, and as helen pointed out, we know from other countries such as ireland, for instance, and france, that once people have stocked up their homes, those who are concerned, once they

have stocked up with food, then actually, this surge in demand sta rts actually, this surge in demand starts to taper off. when that happens, then the retailers that wa nt to happens, then the retailers that want to react flexibly to adjust to the limits they have put in place. cani the limits they have put in place. can i pick up before we hand over? the relaxation in competition law i think has given the forum to be able to have the conversations amongst the different businesses to share ideas and then actually, for each business to implement the thing that works best for their customer base. that isn't necessarily the same for every business. i think where there are different issues and they need to all come together and do the same thing, that may be appropriate but i think in terms of limits on individual items, what has happened so individual items, what has happened so far is that individual businesses have really looked at the way that their business operates, the interactions they have with their customers, and made sure that what they have done is the thing that is going to make the most difference to

that customer base. i think looking at those countries such as china that got this disease early, and their experience is that it is possible to develop strategies to suppress and to reduce the virus. different countries take slightly different approaches but to be honest, they all have the same scientific basis, which is to reduce the spread and the transmission of the spread and the transmission of the virus in the community so that fewer people are infected. the fewer people who are infected, the fewer deaths, the less the pressure on the health services. so the advice in this country which follows that scientific basis that is on the best possible evidence, is it absolutely designed to suppress and reduce the virus and to reduce the number of people who are infected. i think you can see strategies that have been effective and i will go back to what isaid effective and i will go back to what i said earlier. that is why it is

crucial that everybody in the country crucial that everybody in the cou ntry follows crucial that everybody in the country follows the guidance that has been given. it is not for somebody else to follow, it is for you and me to follow, it is for everyone to follow. this is all a problem and if we do it together it will be an effective strategy. if you follow the advice you are saving somebody's life, this is the time in your lifetime where your action will save somebody's life. it is as simple and as stark as that. you have already told us how much has been stockpiled in people's houses. is it possible, secretary of state, to give us an idea, if panic buying continued at the current rate, how long it would be before we ran out of food in this country? and added to that, fresh fruit and vegetables, is there going to be a problem this summer is there going to be a problem this summer with getting casual workers in to pick fruit and veg for the autumn? on the former point, as i

said and helen explained, the food supply chain is used to dealing with spikes in demand, not least every christmas, there is a surge in demand and in the last three weeks, we have seen demand and in the last three weeks, we have seen surges demand and in the last three weeks, we have seen surges that are similar to that. food manufacturers have responded by increasing their production by up to 50%. we don't think there is a risk of food running out, the challenge we have is getting food to the shelves and keeping it there, which is why we have taken a number of steps to coordinate their activities and why we have taken a number of steps to ensure we can get more food delivered to supermarkets more quickly. 0n delivered to supermarkets more quickly. on your second point. it is the case that we will shortly be moving into a period from around may onwards when we start to get increased uk production. some of the labour and agriculture moves around from different sectors. there is already quite a lot of staff that will be working. in fields in

lincolnshire. and also in places like cornwall. we anticipate that we will be able to provide the labour necessary to ensure that we can continue the harvest. can i pick up on that. what we need to recognise is that we may not be always able to buy exactly the normal things that we would and actually, they will be —— there will be less choice than they otherwise has been but i was in my local supermarket this morning andi my local supermarket this morning and i didn't get my normal list of my shop but there was plenty of other things that i bought instead. it wasn't like there was nothing available. i think the thing about capacity, we have certainly seen that the production capacity has increased by about 50% and even on the phone this morning, many of the businesses that also have

manufacturing and producing as part of their supply chain are saying that they are now looking at how they can continue to grow that over they can continue to grow that over the coming days. thank you, we have heard reports of how ready made pies are being sold online sometimes for around £30 which is something no one ever expected to see. are you concerned that profiteering could be going on and if needs be, is there a plan to tackle it, and in the worst case, if it gets to luton, is there a plan that is ready—made if rationing needs be introduced. a plan that is ready—made if rationing needs be introducedlj rationing needs be introduced.” might ask allen to comment on this point but in the last two weeks i have been in almost daily contact with all of our major retailers. and they are working in quite such challenging situations and have really stepped up and worked collectively to ensure that we get food to people and we have not seen

widespread evidence yet of that kind of increase in pricing but obviously, we keep a close eye on that. i think the most important thing, as helen said, this isjust a temporary spike in demand, if other countries are anything to go by, once those people who feel the need to stock up, once they have, demand will start to settle back down but helen, i don't know if you want to say anything about that? yes, i have been working in the food and the wider retail industry for more years than i care to remember but i can guarantee you that the competitive nature across the industry is as robust today as it always is, and thatis robust today as it always is, and that is what has enabled us all as customers to make sure that we continue to see great value in prices from our retail businesses. i think all of the conversations that are being held are absolutely about making sure that we all have access to the food that we need working

with government on the things that would facilitate and enable the changes to regulations that would facilitate and enable that to occur more effectively and get those lorries and more capacity available so that their shelves get full. nigel? nigel nelson, sunday mirror, secretary of state, the prime minister talks about doing whatever it takes and i'm sorry, this is another rationing question, but how can you actually rule out entirely that we may end up with some kind of rationing or indeed even ration books? well, the point that i made earlier is that the supermarkets are best placed tojudge earlier is that the supermarkets are best placed to judge what stock item limits they should place on their particular product lines in order to ensure that they can keep food on the shelves, but there is no shortage of food. as i said, food manufacturing has geared up to meet an increase in demand and it is up

by 50%. we think it is better for individual retailers to make individual retailers to make individualjudgments, or collective judgments, about particular lines that go off the shelves most quickly and where they may want to take action. secretary of state, looking back briefly to yesterday's economic announcements, it is increasingly clear that the group that is still most worried are the self—employed. is there anything that you can promise them? will there be any more announcements coming down the line to give them some hope that they can get through this? secondly, looking back to today's food —related stuff, is the government anticipating any supermarket individual store closures as a result of staff absences, staff going sick and in that scenario or any other scenario, is the government planning to step in to help coordinate local stores and supermarkets? on the first point, the chancellor has made a number of quite dramatic

interventions over the last couple of weeks to help tackle this particular pandemic, including yesterday, obviously, a package of measures to help businesses. i know there are other issues that have been raised and it is obviously for the treasury to keep this matter under review. 0n the latter point about staffing in supermarkets and the food supply chain more generally, we obviously have designated those working in the food supply chain as key workers and we believe there will be sufficient resilience, having done that, particularly since some are recruiting staff that have been laid off from other establishments in the food service sector, we believe that we will be able to meet those staffing requirements even with the expected absentee level. and can i just build on that? i think certainly from the retailers‘ point

of view, they are absolutely committed to doing everything they can to keep the stores open. exa m ples of can to keep the stores open. examples of closing deli counters, people from head office coming in to provide support, i think, are ways that they will seek to mitigate any particular shortages that might otherwise cause a store to close. i think that is a great opportunity really to call out to all of the people who work in retail businesses, who worked right across the supply chain, who i think have been doing an amazing job over the last couple of weeks in working superbly hard and ensuring that we all have access to the food that we need. two final quick questions. fatima manji, channel 4 news, a week from now would have been the beginning of the easter holidays, and there will be many families who still have holidays within the uk booked up, cottages by the sea and so on. booked up, cottages by the sea and so on. what is the government's advice to families about those holidays? is it safe to travel between towns and cities and see the

countryside? the advice we have given so far is that people should be socially isolating and the whole population should be limiting as far as possible... social distancing. yes, the whole population should be distancing themselves as far as possible. food banks are struggling to provide for the most vulnerable, with some closing doors. will the government bring in measures to protect them. perhaps allowing them to buy in bulk? we are in discussion with supermarkets to ensure food banks retain and access to food supply to help the most vulnerable. it is a piece of work we have worked on the last week and there will be more that we will say on that in the coming days. thank you very much for your time. studio: that is the latest of the

daily press briefings with a new line—up today instead of the prime minister chairing that press briefing we had the environment secretary george eustice and he was joined by stephen powis, from nhs england and helen dickinson from the british retail consortium. we can remind ourselves of what has been set at this latest briefing. the environment secretary urged people to be responsible when you shop, saying there is more than enough food to go round. the british retail consortium chief executive said supplies were holding up adding there was plenty of food in the supply chain. and the nhs england national medical director asked people not to stockpile food and said that panic buying deprives nhs staff of the supplies they need. you will have been reading on the screen that we have had some latest figures

from scotland and northern ireland. that is to the number of cases of coronavirus and in scotland the number of cases has risen to 373, an increase of 51 since yesterday. there has been one further death in scotland, sadly and a total of seven who have tested positive for coronavirus have died. in northern ireland, the latest figures are 22 new positive cases, bringing the total number two 108. to date, one person who has tested positive for coronavirus in northern ireland has died. we can go to downing street and nick eardley, who was in downing street for that briefing. very interesting listening to that line up interesting listening to that line up of people, much more close focus briefing than yesterday. they seemed to concentrate on relaxing rules for

supermarkets, rather than imposing government restrictions. it was a plea to us to be sensible when we go to the shops. you heard that directly from the secretary of state, saying do not buy more than you need, think of others when you go to shops. perhaps one of the most powerful moments was when we had the nhs saying if you go out and buy too much, our workers, when they finished their shift and go and grab their lunch, are not able to get the food they need. we have seen this before and most of us i think will have been to supermarkets and seen some of those items running out. the government is still reluctant to introduce compulsory limits. we have some supermarkets doing that, introducing may be two, three limits on certain products. the government not wanting to say they will make

that compulsory. what was interesting was they say they have relaxed certain rules for supermarkets in order to be able to cooperate with each other to make sure there is enough on the shelves. that is things like competition rules to make sure supermarkets can talk to each other and say we need to get these deliveries done in this time, maybe we can pool resources. and conversations about staffing, making sure all supermarkets can stay open and potentially the pooling of staffing. and massive drives of recruitment going on from some big supermarkets to ensure they are ready, perhaps if staff have to go off sick. some of those measures we re go off sick. some of those measures were introduced earlier this week and some were announced earlier in the week. there was not a great deal new in the announcement in terms of concrete proposals coming from government. at the moment, ministers are saying to us to do the right

thing, do not buy more than you need, do not go to the shops this weekend and by two weeks, three weeks of food. 0nly get what we need for the moment. we have seen so many times over the past weeks that these things evolve. the government not quite going as far as ruling out taking further measures if it needs to. very interesting. we will be back with you soon, i am sure. that is our political correspondent. and iamjoined by is our political correspondent. and i am joined by our business correspondence. listening to that briefing, one wonders if it was as much about trying to instill reassurance and confidence in consumers, because the message repeatedly was there is enough food. there are two interesting points and one of them is the repetition of the message to be considerate and not buy too much. i was here this time last week talking about supermarkets

saying the same thing, saying to customers to be considerate and to think of the vulnerable. the fact they repeat it shows people have not been listening. many of us will have seen that when we have gone to buy something like toilet roll. the fact they have said it at the official government briefing you would think they are trying to prompt people to listen. but they are reassuring people there is enough food. the number of £1 billion. extraordinary in itself. having £1 billion of extra food stored in peoples homes, they make the point eat it now. interesting notes about reiterating how supermarkets are coping and saying there is enough food but the challenges resources, getting lorries and people out there. even a suggestion that pubs and restaurants having to shut there is extra delivery capacity there so thought

going on behind—the—scenes on how to make it work. they are hoping this isa make it work. they are hoping this is a temporary spike in demand. and that stockpiling will not continue. there must be some assumption that given people cannot go to restau ra nts a nd given people cannot go to restaurants and pubs, they will do more eating at home and will need more eating at home and will need more supplies. that is a huge factor. we heard recently three of the big supermarkets are going on a recruitment drive to bring in extra workers, a recognition of the extra demand it has placed on services. they need more people to help service that demand. it will be an interesting few weeks to see if the limits on certain goods have to be kept. the government, the minister was reluctant to be drawn into commenting on whether the government would or would not consider rationing but clear at the moment the government feels it is for retailers to make the decision as to what will be most effective. some

comments about relaxing competition laws, allowing the sector to work together and used to share —— you shared experience to come up with the right solutions. we are being told not to take more than we need. iam sure told not to take more than we need. i am sure it is not the last time we will hear that. in my local supermarket there was a message saying they would deliver to people over the age of 65 if they had to self—isolate. are these decisions things supermarkets are taking by themselves? are they deciding together? they are talking to each other a lot but ultimately the decision on which takes which measure will be for them. they are not all doing exactly the same. we heard several supermarkets allocate on ourfor elderly people heard several supermarkets allocate on our for elderly people in the morning and sainsbury‘s has said that it will extend that to nhs workers and key workers, to ensure

they get what they need. we heard in they get what they need. we heard in the briefing examples of when people have finished a late shift, for example working in health care, and have not found essential supplies. supermarkets trying to adapt. there isa supermarkets trying to adapt. there is a consensus those measures are necessary but each supermarket will decide what it wants to do at this stage. katie, many thanks. katie austin. we will get more reaction on the press briefing. this time from a retail a nalyst the press briefing. this time from a retail analyst and former director of safeway, who works as an adviser to sainsbury‘s. thank you for joining us. you listen to the briefing. what you make of it? it is very much the same message and they are right, there is enough food. people should not panic. we have to do more than what they have said today because the reason

manufacturers are able to do things now, when we started sunday trading, manufacturers started a seven day week, things like that. but there are things they have to think about. in spain, they have put in yellow tape outside in the queues so that people space themselves. if you look at the crowds, they are rather near to each other. they have to address the national health and those people and they can do it in a different way. what was not talked about at the press conference was online deliveries. that is where some of the pressure is coming. we are looking at their shells but the point about online deliveries, for most supermarkets, they are picking from stores, so you have people going in and doing your shopping for you. that used to be 7% of grocery retail and it has been doubled up now and in some cases they have had to call a halt. they need people to

do the picking. with the health people, they have to be more imaginative now. retailers are very imaginative. we have to use technology and look at a system so that from the actual hospitals, they could link into their local store, prove they were a health worker finishing may be 8:30pm at night, when some stores might be shut, and she could say what she wanted and it would be packed up and ready to pick up. if they can do that, i think they will have to move to that. if these people are exhausted, the last thing they want to do is go round a supermarket. but online is under pressure. they should start to think about this. the retailers this time do not seem as joined about this. the retailers this time do not seem asjoined up as about this. the retailers this time do not seem as joined up as they have been on other occasions, like bse. iam bse. i am sorry to interrupt. is it because the scale of the so huge?

the scale is huge, but there is good cooperation. they have the british retail consortium, food and drink federation, institute of grocery distribution, who monitor and no data. of course they operate differently. morrisons has a supply chain and makes its ready meals, it buys animals and tops them up. the others depend on suppliers. helen referred to it, what we will see is more volume of fewer products. less choice. you do not need 27 olive oils. probably three, four to choose from. they will bulk up but there will be less choice. do you think this will change the way in which we shop? yes because we are talking about supermarkets today. i live in about supermarkets today. i live in

a village. we have a fantastic local butcher, who people are flocking to. people will regard... there is another great shop, the village stores, and people will appreciate their value as much as anything else. these small shops are turning over to help people, get them stocked up, and they do a drive through, you do not have to get out of your car. it is notjust supermarkets, i think our attitude to how we buy and how we source locally will change. we will see. they think the panic will tail off but i think the question was, if people are not eating out. normally they buy ready meals and eating on a friday night. there will still be a demand for those products and still a demand on the supermarkets. we will have to leave it there. many thanks. let‘s listen again to

what george eustice said earlier. iam what george eustice said earlier. i am sorry, i think we have a problem. we can remind ourselves of what has been said at the latest briefing from downing street. the environment secretary urged people to be responsible when you shop, saying there is more than enough to go round. the british retail consortium chief executive helen dickinson stressed supplies were holding up, adding there is plenty of food in the supply chain. nhs england national medical director stephen powers asked people not to stockpile and said panic buying is depriving nhs staff of the supplies they need. we can talk now to the chief executive officer of the food and drink federation. he was at the briefing earlier. what did you make of it? it is interesting that food

has taken centre stage at this point in the crisis. we have heard a lot about the economics of the crisis and an enormous amount, rightly so, about the health and science of the situation. now people are worried about food supplies. i do not think they need to be. as george and helen said, there is plenty of food in the supply chain. there are occasional shortages on the shelves, but that is largely a result of individual pulses of reaction to government announcements and the announcements are extraordinary, so not surprising consumers and shoppers are behaving ina consumers and shoppers are behaving in a equally extraordinary way. consumers and shoppers are behaving in a equally extraordinary waym has been marked this week with reports from italy where the outbreak has been so severe and yet we are told there has not been any panic buying and stockpiling. 0ne wonders whether people in britain have simply not quite had the confidence to hold back?

i don‘t think it is necessarily that, i think it is that the announcements have been dripped out, and for very good reasons, they have been staged. so we had the announcement about the social distancing, the announcement about schools, the announcement about pubs. not surprisingly, people have reacted to each and it is not always the same people reacting. it is different people reacting and even now, i think you would find that if you looked in the nation‘s kitchen cupboards, there would be a fairly large proportion of people who haven‘t yet really stockpiled for anything to come. so i don‘t think this is the same people going out and simply filling their cupboards. this is different people reacting to different announcements. do you think it is going to be necessary for central limits, government limits, on what people buy? oh, i agree with george eustice that the best place to do the limiting is in the supermarkets concerned.

supermarkets have started with limits of five similar items in a basket, and i think they are down to two, i think that is sensible. there is not an absence of... almost every product is in good supply in the supply chain. the issue is making sure that is on the shelves and that is about getting it from the distribution centres to the supermarkets but also from the factories and farms to the distribution centres. there are one or two issues about drivers. we are beginning to see absenteeism or some absences because people are either self isolating or in some cases last week, where schools closed early, they had to go home to look after their children, or they are poorly. this will increase. but the system is very robust. it is the most robust distributions system in the world. we have the best manufacturing capacity in the world and i‘m very confident that we will continue to supply the industry going forward. ok, we will have to

leave it there, ian wright, many thanks, from the food and drink federation. pakistan has announced it is suspending all incoming international flights until the 11th of april. it is in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. 0ur pakistan correspondence joins us from islamabad. bring us up—to—date with the situation in pakistan at the moment? aviation authorities today said that all incoming international flights will be suspended for the next two weeks, thatis suspended for the next two weeks, that is a ruling that is due to come into force in the next few minutes, really. they have not specifically said anything about outgoing flights but the expectation is that most airlines will not be flying out of pakistan, either. in pakistan, there has been more than 600 confirmed coronavirus cases and three deaths. a lot of them have been linked to people who had travelled abroad but most of them in fact our people who we re most of them in fact our people who were travelling back from iran, which has been particularly badly

hit by coronavirus, crossing the land border into pakistan and many of them in fact contracted coronavirus, it seems, in these terribly unhygienic, overcrowded quarantine camps that were set up at the border between pakistan and iran. these coronavirus cases were only detected when they were taken from the quarantine camps to secondary quarantine facilities. the schools and universities have been closed in pakistan in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus but just yesterday, prevent the spread of coronavirus butjust yesterday, prime minister imran khan said he is quite relu cta nt to imran khan said he is quite reluctant to order a full knock—down in the country because of the impact it would have on people from deprived backgrounds —— a full lockdown. he said they simply might die of hunger because of their inability to work and earn a wage to provide food for their families. of course, though, there is real concern about what impact coronavirus could have in pakistan if there were to be a major outbreak will stop the health care system here is weak and many people,

particularly in major cities, live in cramped and overcrowded conditions. i wonder what impact the suspension of flights might have on the hundreds of thousands of people of pakistani origin who are in britain? certainly, there has been pakistani nationals who are studying in britain who have said they want to come back to pakistan. they are concerned about being cut off from theirfamilies. they concerned about being cut off from their families. they will not be able to come back for the next two weeks at least. the government yesterday said that they were aware of that but they don‘t have the capability to process these people. it will certainly be an issue of concern for british pakistanis who will be cut off from relatives and family here. but at the moment, this flight family here. but at the moment, this flight suspension is just a0 weeks. the authorities are saying it will be reviewed after that —— is just for two weeks. we have already had a number of cases of people who it

seems contracted coronavirus in the uk and then came to pakistan and it was detected here, possibly having spread it on to people in pakistan. that is one of the reasons why the authorities here have taken the action they have. ok. thank you for joining us. let‘s take a look at the coronavirus picture in europe. the death toll in spain continues to rise with over 1300 deaths. their various state in germany has imposed severe restrictions on movement as cases continue to there. —— bavaria state. italy remains the worst hit country in europe with nearly 50,000 cases and over a000 deaths. freya cole reports on the latest picture in europe. green, white and red, the italian trickle or has been projected proudly onto the roman town hall in the nation‘s capital. —— italian tricolour. it shines brightly as a patriot example as the

country battles one of its darkest period in modern history. italy is again recorded its largest daily increase in its death toll since the outbreak began. in the northern town of bergamo, the army is being called upon to transport bodies from local hospitals to crematoriums in nearby towns. across the country, more than aooo towns. across the country, more than a000 people have succumbed to the virus. hospitals and funeral homes are being overrun. take one look at what is happening in some health systems around the world. look at the intensive care units completely overwhelmed, doctors and nurses utterly exhausted. this is not normal. this isn‘t just utterly exhausted. this is not normal. this isn‘tjust a bad flu season. these are health systems that are collapsing under the pressure of too many cases. italian authorities are extending the nationwide lockdown. all parks will close and from next weekend, anyone driving in rome will be questioned

by police. the rest of europe is also scrambling to beat the rapid spread of disease. more than 1000 people have died in spain. authorities are in a race to construct field hospitals, fearing beds will soon run out in major cities. a two week lockdown is now under way in the german state of bavaria. people have been told to stay at home as the number of confirmed cases spirals out of control. more than 20,000 people have now caught the virus. every night in many european cities and towns, residents are taking to their balconies to applaud health care workers who are on the front line of this fight, which, sadly, is far from over. freya cole, bbc news. prince harry has released a video announcing that this year‘s invictus games, that were due to take place in the hague in the netherlands in two months‘ time, have been

postponed until next year. the duke of sussex filmed himself saying it had been an incredibly difficult decision. hi, guys. as you have now heard, sadly we have had to postpone the invictus games and move it to 2021. this was an incredibly difficult decision for all of us to have to make and i‘m so grateful for eve ryo ne have to make and i‘m so grateful for everyone who‘s worked so hard in the last couple of weeks to try to find any alternative to try and carry out these games in a different way, in a safe way. but this decision was the most sensible and the safest option for all of you, your families and everybody else involved in the games. i know how disappointed you must all be. this is a focus that so many of you need. i would encourage you to maintain that focus as best you to maintain that focus as best you can. the good thing is you have an extra 12 months to be even fitter, to get even fitter than you already are, to be at your absolute top mental and physical fitness.

already are, to be at your absolute top mental and physicalfitness. in that sense, i‘m really excited about the games next year. i‘m sorry we couldn‘t provide this for you. please look after yourselves. please look after your families. please look after your families. please look out for one another. you guys are all in these chat groups. you know who to look out for. please ta ke know who to look out for. please take care of yourselves but do what you do best, reaching out to other people, be it those that still wear the uniform, those that used to wear the uniform, those that used to wear the uniform, those that used to wear the uniform or just the uniform, those that used to wear the uniform orjust those people in your community who you know may be suffering or vulnerable during this period. do what you do best and we will do everything that we can get you a date and time for you to show up you a date and time for you to show up next year and you will be the first to know. again, i‘m really sorry we could not make this happen but take care and look after yourselves and i will catch up with yourselves and i will catch up with you soon. thanks. prince harry with that announcement that he recorded himself, a little earlier. let‘s have a recap on the big financial announcement by the chancellor rishi sunak yesterday. in an effort to

plug the gap in the economy, the chancellor announced a coronavirus job retention scheme. it will allow employers to apply for a grant via the hmrc, in order to cover wages. the grants will cover 80% of an employee‘s salary up to a maximum of £2500 per month. i am joined employee‘s salary up to a maximum of £2500 per month. iam joined now employee‘s salary up to a maximum of £2500 per month. i am joined now by the tuc‘s head of economics and employment rights, kate bell. thank you forjoining us. a big sigh of relief for many yesterday with the chancellor‘s announcement of help, but freelancers and the self—employed are still being treated very differently. absolutely, so this was a big move from the chancellor, he listened to the unions and stepped in and we hope that businesses this weekend are making plans to keep their workers on without government support. but of course, there is still a really difficult situation for freelancers and the self—employed. a little bit of help and yesterday‘s package, so the level of benefits they can apply for going up to £9a per week and a

deferral of their paye bills, but we know that is not enough. you have had government ministers saying this week they could not live on £9a per week they could not live on £9a per week and the next step for that package really needs to be help for those who work for themselves. but it seems to be a practical issue of quite how to do it. how should government go about this?” quite how to do it. how should government go about this? i think there‘s a range of options and i hope that is what government is looking into now and we are talking to our unions about this, those who represent self—employment —— the self employed and we will be talking to government committee but we need that support for self—employed people now, we think and there is over 5 million people who are self—employed in the economy and they will be facing this really significant potential drop in their wages. i am interested, you say there are a range of options to explore, what to your mind is the most realistic? i mean, ithink, explore, what to your mind is the most realistic? i mean, i think, you know, we need to look at getting this retention scheme up and running for employers first, then we need to think about how you might have a

similarthing, think about how you might have a similar thing, looking perhaps at, you know, hmrc has information about payroll, about the earnings of self—employed people so could you have a similar scheme where you are saying, 80% of average earnings. it may be quicker to get support through the social security system but obviously, the current levels of support being provided there are not enough for self—employed people to rely on. that would be a huge job, wouldn‘t it? the amount of bureaucracy that would be required and to get it up and running quickly would be very challenging. but i think knowing that the support is coming could really help. it is of course a difficult scheme and we are trying to do something, you know, government is trying to do something unprecedented come here. it could move faster but you know, we welcomed the announcement yesterday asa sign welcomed the announcement yesterday as a sign that they are now listening to what the unions and workers are saying in the next step of course has to be to put that package in place for the self—employed. package in place for the self-employed. it was striking

yesterday when the chancellor spoke at the press briefing that he had beenin at the press briefing that he had been in discussion with your organisation, the tuc, as well as with the cbi. do you get the feeling that the government is listening? that was a really welcome step and it was good to hear him acknowledge the work of the unions, of course, asi the work of the unions, of course, as i say, there is more to do but we did see that as a significant step forward yesterday and the unions have been saying this is what we need and it was good to see it implemented. ok, we will have to leave it there. kate bell, thank you very much indeed. thank you. good afternoon, you are watching bbc news. in the past hour, downing street has given its latest briefing on coronavirus. this time, focusing on coronavirus. this time, focusing on supermarkets and the food supply chain. let‘s remind ourselves of those main points. the environment secretary george eustice urged people to be responsible when you shop, saying that there is more than enough food

to go around. the british retail consortium chief executive helen dickinson stressed that supplies we re dickinson stressed that supplies were holding up, adding, there is plenty of food in the supply chain. nhs england national medical director stephen powis asked people not to stockpile food and said panic buying is depriving nhs staff of the supplies they need. the medical director of england‘s national hospital service said the country should be ashamed nhs staff are struggling to purchase food because of others‘ panic buying. stephen powis issued this plea to keep medical staff in mind when going to the shops. it is incredibly important they have access to food, to the essential supplies they need. iam sure to the essential supplies they need. i am sure many of you would have seen a video on social media yesterday, by a critical care nurse, in tears at the end of a long shift

because she could not get access to the supplies she needed. frankly, we should all be ashamed that has to happen. it is not acceptable. these are the people we will all need to look after perhaps us or loved ones in the weeks ahead. it is critical that by not stockpiling, not selfishly shopping, by leaving those supplies for others, that health workers are able to get access to what they need. these are the people that we will all rely on, more than we ever have, in the weeks ahead. that was stephen powis from nhs england. that‘s latest briefing was chaired not by the prime minister, but by the environment and food secretary george eustice. we can listen to what he had to say. we recognise this is a challenging time and there are many things the government is asking the nation to do differently as we work together

to fight the pandemic. there is one message i want to start with loud and clear, which is be responsible when you shop and think of others. buying more than you need means others may be left without. it is making life more difficult for front line workers such as doctors and nurses and nhs support staff, who are working so hard in difficult circumstances. as you shop, think of those finishing their late shift, he need to pop to the local shop at the end of a long day. today, the prime minister and i have spoken to the retail sector. there is more than enough food to go round and our food supply chain is able to expand production to cope with increased demand. in the past week, sales are some foods have increased significantly and manufacturers have produced around 50% more food than they usually would. there is no shortage of food available and more

is arriving at shops every day. the challenge that all retailers have faced is keeping shelves stocked throughout the day in the face of increased purchasing behaviour. we all have a role to play in ensuring we come through this together. the government has taken steps to set aside rules restricting delivery to stores and relaxed restrictions on driver hours so that more goods can be delivered to every store every day. we have also set aside competition so stores can coordinate staff and opening times to ensure food can reach every part of the country. we have waived the plastic bag charge and on offer online purchases to speed up deliveries. retailers and producers are working around the clock to keep shelves stocked and the nation fared.

supermarkets are recruiting more staff, protecting shopping time for older and vulnerable people and limiting shopping hours so they have more time to stock. i want to take the opportunity to thank all those staff working in our supermarkets and food businesses up and down the country today who are doing so much to deliver such a crucial service to us all. as the prime minister said many times, we need every citizen of this country to play their part. some supermarkets have put in place purchase limits on some items to ensure there is fair trading and shells remain stocked for longer. everyone must respect such measures and respect the staff working in the shops, who are doing their best to ensure you and your neighbours get the food supplies you need. that was the food supplies you need. that was the food and environment secretary george eustice at the daily press briefing. the uk is adjusting to a changed way of life as radical new

measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus come in force today, as has happened in europe. yesterday the prime minister announced all public venues including pubs, restaurants, gyms, theatres and cinemas must close with theatres and cinemas must close with the decision reviewed on a monthly basis. here is our business correspondence. huge chunks of the economy have already felt the pain as customers stay away. jobs have been lost in industries like hospitality and tourism and now all restaurants, pubs and other leisure venues are having to close their doors. measures were announced yesterday aimed at preventing mass lay—offs. through a grant scheme, the government will fund 80% of wages for employees who now won‘t be able to work, up to £2,500 a month — initially for up to three months. vat payments will also be deferred but self—employed people aren‘t covered by the wage subsidy programme. however, benefits are being increased. things look very bleak for this

industry at the moment. yesterday, the dvsa e—mailed hundreds of thousands of learner drivers saying they were cancelling driving tests and there would be no more driving tests for three months because it is not possible for a driving test examiner to practice social distancing in a car. but also, in the same breath, they said it was ok to go out on driving lessons with their instructors, so basically driving instructors don‘t know what we should be doing. the organisation which represents the uk‘s 5 million self—employed people and freelancers says their incomes have fallen off a cliff and they need the same help as everyone else. most of it was geared towards protecting the jobs and incomes of employees and that is, of course, incredibly important, but what we are saying is self—employed people are just as important and we were very disappointed that the package that was geared towards them was nowhere near as generous as it was to employees. the chief secretary to the treasury said the government was looking

at ways to protect the income of self—employed affected by the coronavirus. in terms of the self—employed, there are other things we can be doing and i touched on a few of those but also strengthening the safety net as well, because that is one of the fundamental issues of concern, and making that safety net stronger. the chancellor has said he will do whatever it takes to keep the economy going and has shown willing to put vast amounts of money and borrowing into that effort. businesses have welcomed that but say speed is now essential, with the cash—flow crunch facing many retail and leisure firms and the new wages relief scheme unlikely to be ready for a few weeks yet. katy austin, bbc news. katiejoins me in the katie joins me in the studio. katiejoins me in the studio. let‘s talk about some of the self distancing measures and what businesses can stay open and cannot. there has been confusion. some businesses have found it quite confusing. you heard the

self—employed driving instructor saying we have not been told we can carry on work but how can i do a driving lesson with someone that close to me? some businesses are confused and this was the problem with bars and restaurants, that they had not been told to shut, but the number of people walking through the door had fallen off a cliff. they we re door had fallen off a cliff. they were not making money. 0ne restau ra nt were not making money. 0ne restaurant was operating at 10% maximum of capacity which was not sustainable and we saw fears about jobs going as a result. a lot of hotels and jobs going as a result. a lot of hotels a nd restau ra nts jobs going as a result. a lot of hotels and restaurants and bars have welcomed advice from the government saying you have to close, now it gives them the option of trying to get help to staff through the wage subsidy scheme. meanwhile a different impact in other parts of the economy where you have supermarkets and online delivery is racing to keep up. that was the substance of the press briefing we have had. was there anything in the briefing that surprised you? was it an exercise in reassurance and

trying to get the message across? there was an effort to reassure people there was food available for eve ryo ne people there was food available for everyone but the fact they emphasised that so strongly at government level with the secretary of state giving out that messi showed customers had not been listening to when retailers have repeatedly said it. it has been over a week they have been blatantly saying, please shop considerately, do not leave the most vulnerable without. but a week later the government has to remind people of that message. retailers say there is enough food in supplies but their issueis enough food in supplies but their issue is getting it into stores. the logistics and the people. the system is under strain and they are having to adapt is notjust with limits, but thinking of consolidating opening hours, doing things differently to meet the incessant demand. and there are unintended

consequences of measures taken with some supermarkets allowing elderly people and nhs workers to come into the supermarkets for the first hour. but then you have the potential of elderly people exposed perhaps to the virus, if they mingle with nhs workers. potentially. sainsbury's has been clear it sees the hour for elderly people and nhs key workers. their line has been they want to help those people get the food they need. it is a sign of the times you hear stories of people coming into store late in the day after a long shift who cannot get what they need. there are unintended consequences perhaps but at the moment supermarkets see the priority as allowing thosepeople to get what they need. they say to people, shop ina they need. they say to people, shop in a responsible way for health and safety a nd in a responsible way for health and safety and ask customers to stay one metre away from staff. you may think thatis metre away from staff. you may think that is common sense but people have not been doing that. we had shop

workers who have had abuse, as well. these situations do not always bring out the best in people but the message is repeated, people need to be considerate to avoid spikes in demand, which nobody thinks will be sustained. the hope is it is a temporary and online deliveries might increase by demand but this stockpiling, that it will not continue too long. there was a figure staggering, quoted, of £1 billion more food, shopping, on people‘s shells than a week ago. that has to be used up. a staggering number. it probably does not average out at that much per person but a huge amount of food that has gone from the supermarkets, sitting at home. i think it was helen dickinson who said you need to start eating some of that, do not go out and buy

more. very strange times we live in when one part of the economy is racing to keep up with demand, seeing huge demand for online deliveries. supermarkets having to hire more staff. at the other end, restau ra nts, hire more staff. at the other end, restaurants, pubs, leisure centres, demand falling off. a distorting impact. katie austin. coronavirus is already having an impact on all of our lives. what exactly is the virus? here is our health and science reporter to explain. coronavirus is a type of virus. the one we are talking about is new and causes a disease called covid—19. most will only be mildly affected. but it can kill and starts by infecting the upper respiratory tract, the airways from your nose just above your vocal cords. you may develop a fever as your system fights the virus, and a dry cough,

one where you do not produce phlegm. it can spread to the lungs, making it harder to breathe. it can cause pneumonia. in the most serious cases people can die from the virus because the immune system can go into overdrive and that can lead to organ failure. we need to do what we can to stop it from spreading. as it gets into your body by breathing it in or through your eyes and mouth, the best thing is to wash your hands regularly and properly for at least 20 seconds. catching colds and sneezes in a tissue and avoid touching yourface. a sneezes in a tissue and avoid touching your face. a cough and fever a re touching your face. a cough and fever are the most common symptoms. the two main symptoms to look out for are the two main symptoms to look out forare in the two main symptoms to look out for are in continuous dry cough and ora for are in continuous dry cough and or a fever. if you are sneezing a lot, have a headache, you may be ill, but you have probably not got

coronavirus. how high a fever is a coronavirus. how high a fever is a coronavirus one? what is a continuous dry cough? it is when you cough and there is no phlegm, no substance in the tissue. and this is not the odd cough, it has to be coughing regularly for no other reason, such as clearing your smoke or smoking. —— clearing your throat. how high is the fever? if you have one, you will know about it. it is a body temperature of more than 37.8 celsius, 100 fahrenheit. if you do not have a thermometer, you will feel hot and chest and back would be hot if someone touch you. if you have either symptom, you need to stay at home seven days, and if you live with other people, they need to stay at home at least 1a days. if your symptoms get worse, do not go away, in the uk you need to contact the online nhs hundred and 11 service. if you live abroad, call your local health provider. i‘m

joined by our political correspondence. listening to that briefing, what did you make of it? was the minister trying to reinforce m essa g es was the minister trying to reinforce messages he thinks people are not heeding? these daily press so days where there are massive, world changing announcements which have a huge impact on the way we live our lives everyday. and then there are the days which are more like update and today was more one of those. we did not get new measures but instead, we got this play, george eustice told us about some of the things the government has done in terms of relaxing competition laws to try to increase the supply of food. but what we got mostly from him was this sort of... he even said he was issuing a plea to people not to panic buy which of course has been consistently the government message on this. they have consistently said there are enough supplies and you

don‘t need to go out and stock up, he was just reiterating that the day. it will be interesting to see if it has an effect. certainly, others like labour, for example, we re others like labour, for example, were calling for more government action on this. they wanted to see a clearer plan from government, if you like, on looking at items to restrict possibly and looking at better communication and a more coordinated plan to try to dampen down that panic buying because as we know, if you have been to a supermarket in recent days, if you go in, there are empty shells as well. today was just more of a reinforcement, i think. well. today was just more of a reinforcement, ithink. the government clearly keen for the supermarkets to be taking decisions about rationing, george eustice the environment secretary keen to distance the government from those decision. yes, he was clear that in his view, supermarkets were the best place to discard what restrictions could be put on what products and in a way that is reflective of the cove na nt‘s a way that is reflective of the covena nt‘s approach so a way that is reflective of the covenant‘s approach so far. at the beginning of the week, the original

social distancing measures, they we re social distancing measures, they were quite reluctant to move to a position of saying they would close restau ra nt position of saying they would close restaurant and pubs, it was more urging people to behave responsibly and not go out. we are seeing that a bit here again, this idea of urging people to modify their behaviour. interesting today that george eustice was appealing to our better natures, bringing in the idea of the nhs worker at the end of a long shift you can‘t go and get food. —— who can‘t go. using that sort of persuasion to try to get people to change that behaviour rather than government enforcement but that will disappoint some who wanted to see perhaps a more government led approach to this. and helen, after that announcement yesterday by the chancellor rishi sunak about a huge rescue package for businesses and employs, there still remains a major problem for the self—employed and freelancers, they can expect much less tha n freelancers, they can expect much less than somebody who is employed. where are we on that? yes, i think that has rather dominated this morning that while there has been a very good reception for the measures

that were announced yesterday, across the sector can actually come to those measures that were announced for people who are employed, there‘s been a good reception for that but there is a feeling that not quite enough perhaps is being done for the self—employed. part of that, from talking to politicians this morning, isa talking to politicians this morning, is a recognition that actually, it is a recognition that actually, it is harder, logistically, to help self—employed people. if you are employed, you are there in the paye system and there is a mechanism, admittedly, they may have to start from scratch but there is a mechanism that can be used to try to get money to people. it is much harder to do that for people who are self—employed. there is also a recognition that they are potentially among the hardest hit. i think there is something that is going to bounce around between politicians in the next few days to see if more is likely to be done for the self—employed. at the moment, the self—employed. at the moment, the situation is that the government is saying that they would have easier access to universal credit. that is the current fullback for

self—employed people. that is the current fullback for self-employed people. ok, helen, thank you for all of that. our political correspondence there. some breaking news from the nhs which says that thousands more beds, ventilators and extra health care staff will be available from next week. it will aid the fight against coronavirus. there has been a deal between nhs england and independent hospitals. the nhs goes on, "the extra resources , hospitals. the nhs goes on, "the extra resources, including nearly 20,000 staff, will help the nhs deliver other urgent operations and also cancer treatments". the deal is a p pa re ntly also cancer treatments". the deal is apparently the first of its kind and includes the provision of 8000 hospital beds across england, nearly 1200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and over 8000 other clinical staff. they home in particularly on london which of course has been worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak and say that in london, it includes over 2000 hospital beds and over 250 operating

theatres and critical beds. that news just coming to us now from nhs england. let‘s take a look at some of the developments around the world. south korea has warned that it might have to order the closure of religious, sports and entertainment centres if citizens ignore government advice on group gatherings. it has reported a jump in new daily cases of more than a hundred for the second time in a week. hong kong chief executive carrie lam has warned that a secondary wave of infections could result from an influx of overseas arrivals — many of whom are residents returning to the territory. a00 british tourists are now at serious risk of being stranded indefinitely in peru after the government said its borders would be definitively sealed tomorrow — with no more planes allowed in or out. well, in china, officials say there have been no locally transmitted cases of covid—19 in the country for three consecutive days. there is a feeling there that the coronavirus emergency appears to be under control.

people in beijing are finally heading outdoors, as our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports. countries around the world are going through a coronavirus emergency but in china, people have been living it for months. now, with the weather turning good and a feeling the situation is pretty much under control, more and more of them are busting out of their houses.

when you talk to people here, one thing that strikes you is that for many of them, despite the early bungles, despite the early cover—ups, there seems to be a

belief that once the national government got involved, that the authorities would find a way through the crisis. that report by our correspondence

stephen mcdonnell. in australia, the authorities have closed sydney‘s famous bondi beach. police took action after beach—goers exceeded the newly—imposed limit on outdoor mass gatherings. australia has just recorded its biggest daily jump in confirmed coronavirus cases, with the total now above 1,000. shaun hassett has more. this was bondi beach on friday. it is the most popular strip of sand in sydney, two popular, in fact, for the current crisis. 0n sydney, two popular, in fact, for the current crisis. on saturday, the authorities closed it down. the current crisis. on saturday, the authorities closed it downm the current crisis. on saturday, the authorities closed it down. it is with a significant level of disappointment that we have to move today to not only remove people from bondi beach, but use this as an opportunity to remind everybody that the health act must be complied with. large crowds of people flouted their addictions brought in earlier this week. the australian government has banned outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people. —— flouted the

restrictions. it has also requested people to keep at least four square metres apart when out in public. what we saw here this morning at bondi beach was the most irresponsible behaviour of individuals that we have seen so far. some beach-goers admitted they we re far. some beach-goers admitted they were trying to squeeze in one last swim. i think this is the last hurrah, to be quite honest. i think that from tomorrow, this will definitely... i mean, we shouldn't be doing it now. officials say the closure will be temporarily. when the beach reopens, police and life—savers will work to make sure the 500 person limit is respected. but the government has warned of long—term closures if people don‘t practice responsible social distancing. and that applies to more than just beaches. the distancing. and that applies to more thanjust beaches. the prime minister has flagged the possibility of locking down virus hotspots as early as next week. the latest from sydney, there. much more to come on the effects of the

pandemic globally. you are watching bbc news. at that downing street briefing, the british retail consortium chief executive, helen dickinson, stressed that supplies were holding up, adding that there is "plenty of food in the supply chain". i really wanted to first reassure everybody that people right across the food industry, from growers, packers, producers, this tribute is, drivers, and the people right at the front line in our stores, are doing everything they can to make sure that we have the food that we all need. it is almost like we are seeing basically a peak in demand, like christmas, without the four month build—up in planning that you would normally have in advance. we have been able to do that in two weeks. there is plenty of food in the supply chain. the issue is

around people and lorries, so getting the food right into the front line, onto our shelves, which is why we have seen shortages in some areas across lots of different lines and areas of the country. we can speak now to the director of food and sustainability at the british retail consortium. their message was very clear this afternoon, don‘t panic, but it is something that many shoppers are not heeding as a message top yellow we are trying to reinforce the message, really because our supply chains are incredibly robust and they are holding up. it was great to hear so many retailers talking about the increased production in their own supply chains. i mean one spoke about their bakery which has double production. we know there is plenty of food in the supply chain but the issues getting it onto the shelves quickly enough to meet consumer

demand. it was great to be able to reassure people today. we know the products are there. we know that manufacturers are making it, but what we are asking people to do is think and shop considerably. by over by themselves. they are leaving shelves bare for might be going in on the one opportunity they have to shop and that applies to key workers like nhs workers sight are there certain items that will be harder to get hold of? we had during a briefing that products like toilet paperfor briefing that products like toilet paper for example are manufactured in the uk and production can go pretty easily but should shoppers still be expecting shortages of certain goods? there is a catch up to be had with some of the products, toilet roll is interesting because it is made in the uk and there is plenty of it about and it has been increased in production substantially in the last couple of weeks but the demand has been com pletely weeks but the demand has been completely unprecedented and therefore, it is a case ofjust getting the products on the shelves.

we are not anticipating major problems. what we might see for example to help maximise food production is less choice than we are normally used to. instead of 25 types of pasta, we might have ten. but there will absolutely be all the food that we need on the shelves. government are clearly very relu cta nt to government are clearly very reluctant to commit themselves to any form of rationing at the moment. do you think that is right? absolutely. retailers themselves, as you are aware, i‘ve done some managing of their stock to try to give as many customers access to those products as possible and we are confident that we know how much food is in the supply chain. i can only reiterate, we know it is there, it is just only reiterate, we know it is there, it isjust a only reiterate, we know it is there, it is just a case of getting it on the shelves. we are absolute he confident that everybody, whether you are a vulnerable consumer, whether you are a family, shopping on behalf of somebody else, we‘ll have the food they need. something concerning a lot of viewers is the accessibility of online shopping,

people who might have two self—isolate, people who are elderly are worried about being able to get their supplies delivered. what can you say about that? we have to remember online sales make up 7% of gross resale so the main thrust is to get food on the supermarket shelves. that is where the community comes in. we need everybody, neighbours looking after each other, looking after elderly relatives. coming into our shops and buying food on behalf of them because we won‘t be able to get it through the delivery system. we will up through the delivery system. we will up online delivery but this will only be solved with a community solution. everybody thinking about each other, including shopping considerately but also it means buying on behalf of those self isolating. thank you.

ministers are facing growing pressure to give frontline nhs staff the protective equipment they need as they tackle the cononavirus crisis. some are warning doctors have lost faith in what‘s going on. the former conservative health secretary, jeremy hunt, has joined calls for the government to "sort this out". well, we must sort this out. i mean, we are asking people to put their own lives at risk on the nhs front line. we have seen terrible scenes as to what is happening in italy. it‘s absolutely heartbreaking when nhs frontline professionals don‘t have the equipment they need. i think the government has done a lot in the last week. i think they unblocked the supply chains, but there is this question about whether it‘s the right equipment. i think there is one more question on ppe equipment which hasn‘t yet surfaced properly, which is care homes. we are now getting older people coming in who have picked up covid—19 in care homes. it could have been from an external

visitor, although those have mainly dried up now. it could also have been from a carer. so carers in care homes absolutely must wear the right pp equipment to stop themselves infecting very vulnerable older people. i don‘t want to second judge what the right advice is on pp equipment, but there are still gaps on the frontline, there is still this question about when you wear full hazmat suits. there is the social care system. i do think in fairness a lot has happened since we questioned sir simon stevens at the select committee on tuesday. he is the boss of nhs england? indeed, and a lot more equipment has gone out, so i think the government is really trying to solve this, but if we need to massively ramp up the production of hazmat suits so we can give people the full equipment, we need a huge national effort to do that. with me now is katherine da costa. 0ur health correspondence. this is something we have heard repeatedly and are worried for medical staff.

how seriously is it taken? in terms of protective equipment, a co nsulta nt of protective equipment, a consultant at st george‘s hospital felt... told the bbc that the government not complying with the who recommendations and said from monday staff were only wearing a simple face mask, short gloves and pi nafo re simple face mask, short gloves and pinafore apron and worried that by passing around the hospital with the same uniform could pass it on to patients and staff are made the point that if sainsbury‘s allow health workers and the elderly to shop at priority time slots, it wrist cross infecting vulnerable. the health secretary, former health secretaryjeremy the health secretary, former health secretary jeremy hunt the health secretary, former health secretaryjeremy hunt said the government has done a lot to free up the supply chain but clearly a huge national effort would be needed to make sure the right equipment goes to the right people. the public health england said a high level of

protective equipment is available for when health care workers perform high risk procedures and said it would make sure health workers got everything they need. we heard today from stephen powers, the national medical director at nhs england who told people to stop being selfish when it comes to notjust clearing supermarket shelves, but also to stay at home and listen to government advice and the government is increasing capacity in terms of numbers of ventilators and intensive ca re numbers of ventilators and intensive care beds but said the public needs to do its part. social distancing will be crucial and he said, your action will save someone‘s life, it is as simple and stark as that. interesting research on public attitudes in terms of changing behaviours since measures have been wrapped up. a yougov survey for imperial college london question 2000 people on their attitudes to the social distancing measures and

almost three quarters said they change behaviour with almost half believing they will become infected. 83% said they were doing more things like washing their hands but only half said they would avoid social events and 36% say they avoided public transport and 11% said they avoided going to work. people still getting used to the new social distancing way of having to live our lives but the government reinforcing it is essential they do so and do so immediately. many thanks. some use to bring you, a fast—growing story. from thejohn lewis partnership. they say they have taken the difficult decision to temporarily close all of their 50 john lewis shops at the close of business on monday, as a result of the impact of coronavirus. john lewis dot—com will continue to operate as normal,

alongside waitrose shops and waitrose dot—com. they said it will be the first time in a company‘s 155 year history of business that it will not open shop doors for customers. john lewis becoming the latest chain to close it shops. we can get reaction from business now. iamjoined by can get reaction from business now. i am joined by the chief economist at the cbi. people‘s jaws dropped yesterday at the scale of the chancellor‘s rescue package for business. put it into perspective the amount of help the government is offering to business. it is offering a huge amount of help to business and the wider community and this is about all of us coming together to not just address the about all of us coming together to notjust address the health crisis and impact on communities but to make sure the health of the economy is there where we do emerge from

this crisis. i think the most significant thing he announced yesterday was the measures taken to protect people in theirjobs. if someone becomes unemployed because a shop has had to close its doors and you can imagine as a shop if you have no revenue coming in, your biggest cost is your staff. you want to keep them employed. yourfocus is on how you make sure they keep having a salary. the government will pay for 80% of people who become unemployed, they become a furloughed worker. they will stay at home and the government will pay 80% of their salary up to about 2500 a month. the company can choose to top it up to full salary. it means you can keep that all—importa nt relationship full salary. it means you can keep that all—important relationship with your employer, that people will be able to support their households through this period. it is important

you had the cbi, tuc and government coming together to make sure we had support forjobs coming together to make sure we had support for jobs as we coming together to make sure we had support forjobs as we go through the crisis. and yet there is the issue of freelance and self—employed people who are being treated with nothing like the generosity. what sort of provision can be made for them? it is something the government is absolutely thinking about and trying to think how they can support the self employed through this. they made announcements. the self—employed are now eligible for sick pay essentially in the way they we re sick pay essentially in the way they were not before which is hugely important, because if you are self—employed, you need to self—isolate, you become ill, having income to carry you through is important. i did not think the government has solved all the issues. we will have to come together to solve them as they arise. i think with the self—employed and some of the things

we have to remember, as we saw with the pressure on supermarket, there are sectors of the economy where they need more workers, where the demand has gone up. there are opportunities for people to move to some of those roles. as we move forward , some of those roles. as we move forward, we need to think about what measures there can be for the self—employed. the majority of people in the workforce work for an employer, so it is important that now we have a guarantee thosepeople whose job is at threat because shops have had to close have that protection in place. i suppose what eve ryo ne protection in place. i suppose what everyone would say is speeders of the essence because some people have lost the income rely on. absolutely. the government have this in mind. everyone is trying to make sure things are in place as quickly as possible. what will be in place on monday is all the levels of finance people can get, from small

businesses to the large businesses. there are mechanisms through banks guaranteed by the government and bank of england where businesses can get the cash flow needed to get through this crisis. but absolutely, these measures need to be delivered at speed. hmrc will work day and night to get that support for employees in place in the coming weeks. at least now businesses can have access to the finance until that money is available from hmrc. many thanks. some use to bring you from nigeria, which reports it has closed all airports to international flights to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. this morning it was confirmed there were ten new positive cases bringing the total in nigeria to 22. we are told the use of passenger trains is also going to

be suspended from monday. everyone in the uk and many parts of the world have been asked to stop nonessential contact with others, known as social distancing. what impact can it have on mental wellbeing? we can speak to lucy be resfo rd , wellbeing? we can speak to lucy beresford, a psychologist. are you having to self—isolate yourself? are you practising social distancing? here i am working from home. yes i am practising social distancing which is where the government has advised. a metre, two metres between you if you are engaging with people on the pavement, in a park. social isolation is probably going to come with increasing rapidity i imagine and we need to be aware of what impact it will have on mental health. i am a psychotherapist. impact it will have on mental health. iam a psychotherapist. i have turned my practice around so

all the people i work with i am now seeing online and seeing them via video link. the psychiatrists i work with are doing the same. i think we will need to recognise that even though we need to keep physically apart from people, for mental wellbeing, we need human connection. what does it do to people‘s relationship with each other if they cannot get close to each other? there are a couple of things. one of them is about engagement with others. skin on skin contact releases feel—good hormones that make us feel great and loved. and secure. also just interacting and getting different energy from people, different ideas and opinions, sometimes perhaps validation. that could be lost if we isolate ourselves too much from people without connecting in a virtual way. we have to recognise

what it would do for ourselves to be in ourown what it would do for ourselves to be in our own company. we are not used nowadays to having that sense of what it is like to be alone, how to occu py what it is like to be alone, how to occupy ourselves, how to stop feeling bored. we are used to reaching for our phones and getting entertainment and may be comfort from technology that it is almost like we have lost the skill of being able to look after our in isolation. ok, able to look after our in isolation. 0k, we will have to leave it there. very interesting, lucy beresford. and as the uk gets used to the new way of life, police in london have tried to brighten the mood. # always look on the bright side of life. that is a police boat going down the river thames playing the monty python song always look 0n river thames playing the monty python song always look on the bright side of life. normal toddle.

and you can find out more about the symptoms of coronavirus and how to protect yourself against it on the bbc news app and on our website bbc.co.uk/news. there will be more on the bbc news channel throughout the afternoon green, white and red, the italian tricolour has been projected proudly onto the roman town hall in the nation‘s capital. it shines bright as unpatriotic symbol as the country battles one of its darkest periods in modern history. italy has again recorded its largest, daily increase in its death toll since the outbreak began. in the northern town of bergamo the army is being called upon to transport bodies from local hospitals to crematoriums in nearby towns. across the country more than aooo towns. across the country more than a000 people have succumbed to the virus. hospitals and funeral homes are being overrun. take one look at what is happening in some health systems around the world. look at the intensive care units completely overwhelmed and doctors and nurses utterly exhausted. this is not normal, this isn‘t just utterly exhausted. this is not normal, this isn‘tjust a as the coronavirus has swept across the globe, the ability to know exactly

where it is has become the crucial key to stopping it. we have a simple message for all countries — test, test, test. some countries have really cracked how to do this. south korea, with its drive—through ten—minute tests, is held up as a model for others to follow. but many countries are struggling to test at scale. in the uk, testing is having to be limited — the cost, the infrastructure, the time the test takes are all holding up the battle against the disease. now, there are dozens of efforts going on around the world to try and solve this. and jen has been looking at one close to home in west london. around the world, companies and increasingly individuals, are racing to find ways to accurately test people for the coronavirus. the situation is changing daily, if not hourly.